Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Cramm to serve year in prison

Father, killer son will not reunite, officials assure

By Scott North

Herald Writer

The father of a teen-age double murderer was sentenced to a year in prison Monday for purchasing an ounce of laxative from an undercover police detective.

Dale Brian Cramm, 45, spent more than $500 on May 3 to buy what he thought was methamphetamine during a meeting he set up in Lynnwood with somebody he believed was a drug dealer.

Cramm was arrested and wound up pleading guilty to three drug-related crimes, including felony attempted possession of a controlled substance.

His attorney, Susan Gaer, said Monday that Cramm is disliked by many people for his role in the May 2000 shooting deaths of two Everett 18-year-olds at a fistfight Cramm arranged between his then-17-year-old son and another boy.

"But your honor, he is being sentenced for this offense," Gaer said.

Judge Larry McKeeman made it clear he was holding Cramm accountable for the drug conviction, not last year's deaths.

The mothers of the slain teens were in court, but McKeeman decided against allowing them to speak because they aren't parties in the drug case.

Cramm was convicted last year of possessing marijuana with intent to sell and possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms. The drugs were found in his home after the shootings.

Under state sentencing guidelines, he faced a maximum 12 months in jail for his latest offenses. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he asked that he be given 12 months plus one day, a sentence that would allow him to serve his time in prison.

The judge approved the recommended sentence. He also ordered Cramm to serve an additional two months behind bars for probation violations.

Cramm had little to say at sentencing. He stood in the courtroom, facing partially away from the judge, trying to avoid being filmed by a TV news crew.

His son, Dennis Cramm, is serving 60 years in prison for shooting Jason Thompson and Jesse Stoner. Officials say the Cramms will not be reunited in prison.

After the hearing, the slain teens' mothers, Mary Thompson and Donna Stoner, said they were in court to urge the judge to hold Dale Cramm responsible for a lifestyle that provided young people with easy access to drugs and guns.

"We've lost our sons," Donna Stoner said.